‘I was gonna get away with it, get caught, or get killed,’ suspect tells police.

A man accused of robbing a downtown Olympia bank on Monday, then getting on a bus, reportedly told police that the incident could have ended one of three ways: “I was gonna get away with it, get caught, or get killed.”

Kenneth D. Etheredge, 52, was caught.

The bills that a US Bank teller handed him contained a tracker, and the Olympia Police Department found Etheredge on a bus bound for Mason County, according to a police report.

Etheredge, of Grays Harbor County, appeared Wednesday before Thurston County Superior Court Commissioner Nathan Kortokrax. The commissioner found probable cause to charge Etheredge with first-degree robbery and set bail at $25,000.

He allegedly told police that he had just been released from prison with only $10 to his name. He retrieved his belongings — including a “jar of seeds” — from a friend’s house and took a bus to Olympia. Etheredge said he tried to sell the seeds for $40, but found no buyers.

Etheredge told police that he didn’t want to “live around a bridge and push around a shopping cart,” according to a police report.

He allegedly entered the bank at 3:35 p.m. and handed the teller a note reading, “Robbery Larg Bill No Alarm 30 sec.”

The teller handed him $1,714 along with a tracker. The tracker showed that the money was traveling on Olympia Avenue Northeast about 20 miles per hour. Officers determined that the suspect was on a Mason Transit bus and pulled the bus over.

A man climbed off the bus and began walking. When officers approached, he said his name was Kenny and told the officers, “I did it,” according to the report.

This story was originally published November 9, 2017 at 12:51 PM with the headline "‘I was gonna get away with it, get caught, or get killed,’ suspect tells police.."